Malveaux is recognized for her progressive and insightful observations of the impact of race, culture and gender on the economy. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as the 15th president of Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C., America’s oldest historically black college for women, for five years. She is well-versed in today’s economic issues and offers analysis of such events as “the great recession” and their impact on the minority community and public policy.

Malveaux has served on the faculty or visiting faculty of the New School for Social Research, San Francisco State University, the University of California-Berkeley, College of Notre Dame, Michigan State University and Howard University. She also has received several honorary degrees.

She is a contributor to publications such as “USA Today,” “Black Issues in Higher Education,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Essence Magazine” and “Progressive.” Her weekly column appeared from 1990 to 2003 in newspapers across the country, and she has edited several groundbreaking books on women, race and the state of the country, including “The Paradox of Loyalty” and “An African American Response to the War on Terror.” She also co-authored “Unfinished Business: A Democrat and Republican Take on the 10 Most Important Issues Women Face.”

Additional events for the 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration include the Ecumenical Worship Service and Gospel Concert, the Issues Forum and the Greater Warrensburg Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center Community Service Award luncheon.

Tickets for the Freedom Scholarship Dinner will be available in the near future. The Freedom Scholarship Dinner has funded 185 scholarships totaling more than $169,000 since its inception in 1998.